Ajit Pawar, the leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), denied rumours that he had summoned a conference of MLAs on Tuesday amid speculation over his growing closeness to the governing BJP. However, according to sources, about 40 of the 53 members of the Opposition legislature have backed Ajit Pawar’s proposal to join the BJP-Shiv Sena cabinet.
The opposition MLAs made this statement in the midst of speculation that the leader of the opposition in the assembly and four-time deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar might defect to the state’s ruling BJP in light of a Supreme Court petition seeking the disqualification of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The rumours that Ajit Pawar had convened a meeting of MLAs for Tuesday, however, were denied as incorrect on Monday.